About Janis Miglavs

Janis Miglavs is an internationally renowned Latvian-American storyteller (writer & photographer) with more than 25 years of commercial, editorial and corporate experience, photographing vineyards, architecture, people and places in more than 35 countries. While mostly self-taught, he earned a Masters Degree in Fine Art, specializing in drawing and painting.

He writes, photographs and creates video shows for a long list of winery clients and publications like National Geographic, Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, Sommelier Journal, Oregon Wine Press, Outdoor Photographer and a variety of travel magazines.

To this point, Janis has created two wine-related books; his last, Oregon the Taste of Wine, won awards and recognition including “Best Regional Book” in North America, international finalist as “Best Book on New World Wines” and Wine Spectator called it one of the “top reads for wine lovers.”

Besides his commercial work, he is currently creating two new books: Vineyard Light; Lessons from the Vineyard: Insights on our Earth, Character and Spirit; and China: The New Wine Frontier. He also does a yearly vineyard calendar.

In addition to his winery work, Janis has undertaken a major personal project he calls Africa’s Undiscovered Myths. For this he traveled to and interviewed the elders, shamans, storytellers, and chiefs of Africa’s 13 most remote tribes about their myths and archetypal dreams. For all but one of the tribes, he is the only person to have never been documented their oral stories. His illustrations of those myths and dreams have been displayed in galleries throughout the United States, including at the United Nations.

Currently Janis lives with his family in the rolling, vineyard and forest-covered hills above Sherwood, Ore., and works out of a high-tech barn next to his home.